1st day of clinicals

Well, I'm waiting for the Ray the pool service guy to come and reattach the leads to our non-chlorine system on the swimming pool. I tripped over them at the end of last summer (right after we'd had them replaced) and figured we'd just do without the system and go back to chlorine. As it turns out the chlorine-free coppper/ion system keeps costs down considerably and it's like swimming in bottled water as opposed to dry, itchy chlorine skin. Missy is going ballistic. Ray must be in the backyard...I'll be right back.
Turns out Ray has been in the backyard long enough to finish the work and didn't even charge me. What a blessing! And, I can get the pool back right and maybe even enjoy a few more swims before the weather cools off. This, folks, is why you keep the faith.
At any rate, it's about naptime right quick before I have to pick up kids, run errands, fix dinner, study, read, help with homework, etc. I just wanted to tell you about my first clinical day.
We didn't have to arrive at the hospital until 7:45 a.m. (unlike 6:20 a.m. beginning next week) for orientation yesterday. I didn't leave home until almost 7:30, but managed to catch the same shuttle from the parking lot to the hospital as my instructor. She has made it abundantly clear that she is not one to tolerate "late." Hospital staff went over some basic information, then we marched upstairs to get our ID badges and back down again to take our dosage calculation exam (yes, on the first day of clinicals!-good to have it over with). We took about an hour break for lunch and then toured the hospital. Mrs. Blue informed us that she would deliver us to our assigned spots next Tuesday and after that we'd be on our own to get where we belonged. In my opinion, finding one's way around the hospital is one of the hardest tasks of nursing school! Most people have heard of "code red" meaning fire or "code blue" meaning someone has stopped breathing. I think MCA will have to implement a code turquois (TCC uniform color) meaning lost TCC students are wandering aimlessly about the hospital. Oh well, I guess we'll figure it out over the next couple of weeks. Because we only have 6 actual clinical days we don't get to spend a great amount of time in any one area. We will have just one or two days in antepartum, labor & delivery, postpartum, neonatal intensive care unit, newborn nursery, OR and/or triage. At first I was a little bummed because I would have liked more time in this area, but given the choice of one or two days only and extending school an entire extra semester, I'll gladly take the one or two days! At least I get 2 days in L&D. Mrs. Blue dismissed us after we got "checked off" on administering an intramuscular injection on an infant mannekin (piece of cake-we'll see how it goes next week on real newborns). She wasn't just being nice, either. She gave us about 8 different assignments to work on along with online study assignments. She meant for us to go home and get right on the computer for at least two hours. I was on the computer all right--chasing my tail around in circles trying to figure out what in the world the online assignments were. I finally resorted to reading a bit and crashed around 12:45 a.m.
Between the hospital and home I stopped by Costco for a few staples we were out of. I couldn't find my Krusteaz pancake & waffle mix : ( so I went with Bisquick instead. I headed home, got on the computer for a bit, wanted (needed) a nap, but I figured I'd better a dinner plan together. Alisa requested Popeyes (2-piece for 99 cents on Tuesday), and who was I to argue? I stopped by Fiesta for fresh fruit & vegetables then grabbed the chicken and made it back home.
I called Aaron en route and asked him to put on the water for the mashed potatoes since I was close. I came home to water, milk and butter in a saucepan on the stove and Alisa was measuring the instant mashed potatoes. There I said it! Yes, I use instant mashed potatoes sometimes. As much as I would have liked to praise her for her efforts, the first thing out of my mouth was "why did you add the milk?" I tried to explain that the reason I rarely allow her in the kitchen is she doesn't follow directions. It was just a big mess. I ended up throwing out the milk, water & margarine and starting over-what a waste! We all survived, then A & A both had unfinished homework with which they needed help. So, I finally got around to mine just after 10 o'clock. Never did get that nap...that's why I'm headed that way now. I have approximately 50 minutes before I have to leave to get Alisa. More later...maybe.
p.s. I made 100% on the math exam! It was pretty tough. Usually I'm done with plenty of time to spare. This time around I barely finished checking my work before she was calling for the papers.